


fading, in summer

by ewagan



Series: SASO 2017 Fills [21]
Category: Free!
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 15:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11854233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ewagan/pseuds/ewagan
Summary: He thinks there is something special about this summer, the way summer is always special.





	fading, in summer

**Author's Note:**

> A remix of [this](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/22341.html?thread=13119557#cmt13119557)

Summer is coming to an end, even as the days grow ever hotter and the temperatures soar. The city is muggy and suffocating, and Natsuya’s hand is constantly reaching for Sousuke’s, damp with sweat, with pool water, with the memories of a summer Natsuya doesn’t want to let go of. He thinks there is something special about this summer, the way summer is always special. 

This is their summer: late night watching fireflies dance over grass, wandering the streets of Tokyo and getting lost together, the taste of sudden summer rains and dripping fringes, the soft look in Sousuke’s eyes just before he leans in to kiss Natsuya. Natsuya laughs like he never has before, bubbling out of him unstoppable, uncontrollable, coaxing Sousuke to laugh with him until the sound of it echoes in the alleys around them, crows shrieking high above them as they return to their roosts.

This summer is the echo of Sousuke’s laughter, rare and deep and difficult to coax out, but he laughs for Natsuya, at bad jokes and even worse pick-up lines, amusement across his face. It rings out and settles deep in Natsuya’s chest, like another secret for him to hold onto. It’s hours spent splashing in the pool, the look of Sousuke’s face in brief moments, something like regret and resignation flickering over it, distorted by the water. The smell of chlorine and and drape of a towel over his head, feet dangling in the water and the secrets they can only speak in the water.

It’s easiest to be honest there, when they can’t hear clearly, can’t see clearly. He kisses Sousuke afterwards with something like desperation, slow and burning under his skin, a bone-deep ache that seeps through him.

 

They trek their way up to the shrine, for a prayer, for a wish. He doesn’t ask Sousuke what he prays for, but Natsuya knows wonders if it’s the same thing he’d asked for. Sousuke takes his hand as they start walking back, stops when Natsuya tugs at his hand and points at the horizon, sun setting over the city. There’s something painfully melancholic about this, cicadas shrieking while they pause on their way down from the shrine. It makes him think of the things they’ve left behind them now, the dreams, the secrets, the regrets.

There is tomorrow still, and the day after, but now, he lives and breathes this moment, watching the sun sink below the horizon, Sousuke’s hand loosely clasped in his, dyeing both of them red with its last rays.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments appreciated!
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ewagan)!


End file.
